January in Bloom

I was strolling through St. Mary's Square across from old St. Mary's Cathedral, California's first cathedral, and came across this beautiful sight. It's a Magnolia Campbelii, native to the Himalayas, but evidentally quite happy here in San Francisco. It was a pretty, moody day before the great rains of the last week and I'm not sure if all these lovely blooms survived the winds. The square was remodeled very nicely a few years back and features a statue of the great Dr. Sun Yat-sen by the artist Beniamino Bufano.  It was commissioned by Chinatown merchants in the late 1930s in honor of the founder of modern China and its first president, who died in 1924. There's also a pretty good swing (see last post) in the playground.